The anticipation is over. After months of debate the Chancellor announced in today's budget plans to introduce a car scrapping scheme - which could be in place by as early as next month.
£300m has been allocated to the scheme, which offers £2,000 for motorists replacing a vehicle at least ten years old for a new one.
The funding will be shared by the car industry - with £1,000 to come from the taxpayer and the car manufacturers that sign up paying the other £1,000. The scheme will run until March 2010 - or until the funding runs out.
Unlike the European schemes, there are no restrictions on the new car being bought - it does not have to be a low-emission car. This is to help sales of luxury cars including Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin which are produced here in the UK.
This is welcome news for manufacturers - not just those in the automotive industry - but for the thousands of companies down the supply chain who rely on orders from the sector. And, as EEF research shows, there is pent-up demand in the UK and, with current exchange rates making UK cars cheaper, we may see an increase in UK-produced car sales.
But a lot will depend on how many car manufacturers sign up to the scheme.